isr.co.ro : glossary Emoticon A symbol constructed out of normal letters, numbers, and punctation marks and used to convey an emotion in e-mail, on-line chats, Usenet posting, or other text-based communication. The best known is the now-ubiquitous "smiley" :-) face. Depending on who you ask, the emoticon class includes only pictorial images such as the smiley, or those plus a number of stylized text abbreviations such as the <g> for grin or the ##$%& for a string of expletives. Emoticons became popular in text messaging to make up for the emotional nuances you'd get from facial expressions or tones of voice in direct conversations. But use of the symbols is now considered inane by many, and they're not accepted in formal communications.